What I mean is, can you freeze bananas and use them successfully after defrosting, in the same way as a fresh one? (If you're searching for use with recipes, move on - for me, life's too short to make puddings.) Here is a brief account of my experiments with freezing bananas in order to make use of the two-for-one offers you sometimes see in the shops.

The criteria on which I'm judging success are as follows.

Ease of storage, and ease of use (when retrieved from freezer).

Taste. (I'm not considering texture, as this was lost in all cases.)

The scenario concerns a single banana that is to be used chopped up in yoghurt or cereal.

MethodFollowing popular suggestions found on the web, bananas were either chopped before freezing or frozen whole (in the skin). Thawing was done either naturally or with the help of a microwave, and the banana was used in the yoghurt/cereal.

Freezing wholeBananas were either removed from the bag and the bunch broken up before being put "naked" in the freezer, or the bag was put in the freezer whole. I did not try freezing whole peeled bananas as I thought you may as well chop once you've peeled the thing.

Freezing the slicesIn this case, each banana was peeled, sliced and frozen in a separate bag. (The packages, once frozen, are tiny, and using boxes for such small portions would take up too much space.) This is pretty labour-intensive as the recommendation is to process the whole bunch once bought.

Thawing outFor natural thawing, the banana (whichever way it was packaged) was left at room temperature.The microwave was also used on the complete banana; in the case of bagged slices, the bag was opened or emptied into a bowl. Whole bananas were either skinned by slicing down the length (once thawed), or squeezed out of the skin (like toothpaste) once one end had been cut off with a knife.

ResultsWhole bananas

Fig 1 : Whole banana frozen "naked" and thawed naturally

After spending some time in the freezer, the "naked" bananas would appear to dry out slightly, while the skin on the packaged ones blackened (this is normal) and appeared to stay hydrated, even after the bag was opened. On removal from the freezer, a packaged bunch will break apart easily and the bananas feel very cold to the touch; the naked ones, while being a bit more difficult to locate in your freezer drawer, are more comfortable to handle. As shown in Figure 1, the skin blackens as it thaws. The bananas inside seemed to be the same whichever method is used.

Slitting the skin on a thawed banana is tricky, so I settled on the toothpaste squeeze method. Figure 2 shows the squeezed out content of the banana in Figure 1, while Fig. 3 illustrates the microwaved equivalent. Despite the brown bits, I preferred the microwave version as it didn't remind me of one of the killer pond creatures from Prometheus.

Fig 2 : Banana from fig 1 squeezed out of its skin

Fig 3 : Microwaved banana squeezed from its skin

Microwaving speeded up the overall process but it's difficult to gauge how long the banana should be left. [Tip: Put the banana off-centre in a rotating-plate microwave to get a more even temperature.] Both thawing methods produced good results taste-wise.

Chopped bananasThe first method I tried was thawing naturally (Fig. 4). It could have been my imagination, but the banana tasted plasticky.

Microwaving the bag of slices (Fig. 5) produced a drier, less unpleasant result, but emptying the bag into the bowl was still a rather messy process. Getting the slices out of the bag before thawing was tricky, and because I ended up having individual slices as well as the main icy congealed lump in the bowl, thawing (Fig. 6 shows a slightly overcooked example) was difficult. This produced the best taste out of the chopped bananas, but it still had a bit of an artificial vibe to it.

Fig 4 : Bag of slices thawed naturally

Fig 5 : Bag of slices thawed in microwave

Fig 6 : De-bagged slices thawed in microwave

ConclusionWhile a ready-sliced banana in a bag may seem the most convenient, given the thawing difficulty and taste problems, I have settled with freezing whole bananas. In fact, throwing the bag into the freezer as it is works as well as breaking the bunch apart.

I found no great difference in ease vs result between thawing naturally and by microwave. The natural thaw requires more planning and produces a more even result, but for me, microwaving is just as good.

So, to use those extra bananas bought as a special offer in cereals or yoghurt, here are the steps I take:

Chuck the bag in freezer.

To use, tear open the bag, snap a banana off, put it roughly parallel to the circumference of a plate and microwave for 30s to a minute.

Cut off one end with scissors (I chop the opposite end to the stalk, which I use as a handle), and while taking care not to burn yourself, squeeze the inside of the banana into a bowl.